*Fair warning: this post contains a lot of details because I want to remember everything about my little girl’s special day. If reading detailed accounts of mundane activities isn’t your thing, suffice it to say that her 2nd birthday was pretty great.

“Mommy, c[ome] on. Mommy, wake. Mommy.” It’s not a bad way to start the day, really. Lulu calmly let us know that she was awake and ready for the day around 8 this morning. I went into her bedroom and found her laying sideways in her crib, happy to see me. “Hi, Mommy. Happy Lynnie day!”

I can’t believe my baby girl turned 2 today. I want to remember every detail of the day, because it really was a happy day.

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How can my baby girl be almost 2? Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was getting up in the middle of the night to feed her instead of her baby brother? Now, my 3 am snuggle time is spent with our son instead of our daughter. It’s our son who’s learning how to roll over, discovering his hands and cooing when I make silly noises.

Lulu, on the other hand, seems to learn something new every day. Her vocabulary is constantly expanding, and she’s starting to put words together. Last night, I gave Lulu her bubble bath and read her a book. After saying her prayers and singing our nighttime song, I gave her a hug and laid her in bed. As I was leaving her bedroom, she said “Nigh-night. Love you. Buh-bye.”

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Have you ever thought about how many things we have to learn early in life? It’s amazing to think about all of the little skills that Lulu has already learned. Things like sitting back down after you stand up or putting lego blocks together required so much effort at first. Now she can do both of those things without thinking.

The newest lesson I’m trying to teach Lulu is that the girl in the mirror is her. She loves looking at the mirror and showing herself how to do things.

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Well I promised you a birth story, so here it is. You should probably know that Lulu arrived one day before her due date. By the time we got to the hospital with her, I was already 7 cm dilated, and she was born about 2 hours later.

The Gibster proved that every baby is different, even before we got to meet him. Remember how I said that a nurse practitioner got my hopes up that he would come early? Well, she was wrong. As we got closer to his due date, I was convinced that each day would be the day. Once January 21st came and passed, I had definitely had enough of being pregnant. Don’t get me wrong, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but I was so ready to hold our baby boy in my arms instead of my belly.

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You know those dinners that they call “one pot wonders” because you just throw everything in a pot, and it’s basically an entire meal? Well, think of this post as a “one post wonder.” I’m going to try to catch you up on everything that’s happened in the past six months. I apologize now for the length of this post.

I’m torn between trying to write this post in chronological order or give you the most important news first. Important news wins out. Our beautiful baby boy is here! Well, he’s actually been here for almost six weeks now. I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to posting about his arrival (more to come in a later post). Here’s a fairly recent picture. Isn’t he adorable?

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For the past 15 months, I’ve constantly said that Lulu isn’t afraid on anyone. And that’s still mostly true … unless of course she’s right next to me. Then she seems to be seriously afraid that I am going to leave her with this other person.

For example, we were at the park last week. Hubby and I were sitting on a bench watching Lulu play in the sand when she got up and walked clear across the park without looking back. Of course, Hubby and I followed fairly close behind, but she must have been 60 yards away before she even considered looking to see where we were.

And if there’s a dog in the vicinity – look out! Since Tank is so good with Lulu (and such a big dog), she isn’t afraid of any
animals. Unfortunately, not every animal likes little people, so we have to be very careful that she doesn’t walk up and start petting strange dogs, especially in the park.

All of that said, she’s started acting like the world is going to end when she meets new people lately. We were at the Wok (a restaurant we’ve been eating at since college) when one of the owners came over to say hello. She tried to play peek-a-boo with Lulu, but my normally brave little girl screamed, climbed out of the high chair and buried her face in my
shoulder.

For a solid five minutes after, she wouldn’t let me put her down. Every time the owner came over, Lulu would cry and turn away again.

So I wonder why she’s developing a fear of strangers now. I know nothing scary has happened while she has been with me in public, but maybe she’s just becoming more aware of her surroundings. I guess it’s probably a good thing that she isn’t quite as fearless as we thought.

How ‘bout you other mommies? Did your kids suddenly turn from very outgoing little ones to bashful toddlers?

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I know, I know. Every new milestone is exciting. When Baby Girl first started crawling, I was in awe. Our little 5-month-old was moving on her own power! Then she started to take a few steps at 9 months, and again we were ecstatic about the new development.

Now, at 15 months, Baby Girl has learned how to do something else new: She can climb on top of the coffee table.

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Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m still a little bit in denial about this whole first birthday thing. Baby girl isn’t actually turning one until June 3, so I guess I’m entitled to avoid really accepting it until then. But we did have her birthday party today.

During the past week, I ordered three cakes. Yep, three birthday cakes for my daughter’s first birthday. As one friend pointed out, the cakes outnumbered Baby Girl’s age. But hey, two of those were free!

When we brought our daughter home from the hospital last June, my husband and I looked at her in awe as she sat in her car seat. We picked her up and cuddled her for hours. We watched her with wonder as she peered at us with sleepy eyes.

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I can’t believe that my baby girl’s one year birthday party is only a month away. Now, in all fairness, we are doing the party two weeks early to fit with family members’ schedules, but still! How can it already be time to plan baby girl’s birthday party?

I know this sounds cheesy, but it truthfully feels like only yesterday I was on maternity leave. Little L wasn’t even a month old in this picture, but doesn’t it look like one of the best things life has to offer?